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Chrysler 300M: Problems & Solutions
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Comments
owners manual:
http://www.comreg.ru/intrepid/manual.pdf
Chrysler service manual
http://www.comreg.ru/lh2manual.pdf
Regards
I have a friend who is a Chrysler mechanic and he suggested the Fuel Pump as first likley cause. I did my homework on the problem via internet and found plenty of reports of problem -- a few who reported it said it was solved via Fuel Pump replacement. I should have done the fuel pressure test but I blindly went for it and replaced the fuel pump. Unfortunately that wasn't it.
There are several others things that can fail leading to the described problem. I ran the list past my mechanic friend and he said it could be any one of them. Finally got bad enough I figured it was bound to happen when I took it in. Took it to delear and they did identify error codes from both Cam and Crankshaft sensors.
Had them replace both of them (although I was disappointed they didn't get it to fail first). It was plenty spendy through the dealership with labor costs. I believe you can pick up both sensors for less that $100 if you shop around. So far so good -- it's only been a couple of weeks but the problem was occuring almost on a daily basis.
From my research the same symptom can be caused by a multitude of root causes. Cam and/or Crankshaft sensors, PCM (Power Control Module), Fuel Pump, and others. From what I read and from my own personal experience heat seems to exacerbate the problem -- and from what I understand that's typical of PCM (although my problem was Cam/Crankshaft sensors).
Here's some info I found on it ...
Chrysler’s crankshaft position sensor produces a square wave signal that goes from a high of 5.0 volts to a low of 0.3 volts. The sensor is located on the passenger side of the transaxle housing so it can read three sets of slots in the flywheel. Two sets contain 4 slots each, and one set contains 5 slots for a total of 13 slots. Basic timing is set by the position of the last slot in each group. Once the PCM detects the last slot, it determines which piston is next in the firing order from the camshaft position sensor. This means the engine may have to crank at least one revolution before the PCM can sort out the proper firing order and start zapping the plugs.
Sorry for the long reply but I wanted to give you as much as I could to go on.
Good Luck.
My wife and I have had a total of 4 300M's. The first, a 2000, had an EPA rating of 18-26, but got better gas mileage than the 2001 @ 18-27. Similarly, the 2 2003's we know own, have the worst gas mileage of all.
My 2000 would get about 22.2 on mixed freeway/city driving to L.A. The 2001 would get about 21.3 for the same driving. My wife's 2003 gets about 19.5 for the same driving. Maybe the freeways have gotten more crowded, resulting in more stop and go traffic.
However, there are changes on long freeway trips ( e.g. - from L.A. to San Francisco) as well. The 2000 would get about 26.2 on this round trip. The 2001 would get 25.5 and my 2003 would get about 24.8 (@ 75-80 mph). One thing I noticed with the 2003 vs. the 2001 and 2000 was that the emission numbers came way down. So I surmise that Chrysler got their MPG numbers maximized for the 3.5L engine and then worked on reducing emissions, which cost them mileage. If the EPA restested the engine today, it would get lower MPG, IMHO.
Your 96 LHS did not have a 250 h.p. engine, so you should expect lesser gas mileage. Hope this helps.
As for gas mileage, as commented before I do get 18 mpg summer city (just checked, last 300 miles of city driving) and got 26 mpg at 70 mph flat midwest road freeway driving over 50 miles this past weekend (pretty ideal, no AC). I sped to 75 and the mileage dropped 2 mpg; with our $2.50 probably soon $3 post Katrina gas I expect to see some government edicted speed limit drops within a year and alas the 300M is not much fun at 55-60 mph. BTW, I see no difference in 87 vs 89 octane gas, neither in power or mpg. So despite an extra 60 hp from the 300M, I get over 4 mpg better than my Jeep most likely due to aerodymanics.
And the car is still classy. While many seem opinionated on the new RWD 300 (love it or hate it) both my wife and I get frequent comments from 30 somethings to those 60 plus that our red 300M is a nice looking vehicle. ENJOY yours!
Message 25940 of 25944 Service Manual 2004 300M, Concorde and Intrepid by spark9 Sep 21, 2005
I downloaded a version a few months ago, but after 18 months still no problems (half way through the new car warranty, so the dealer would fix them anyway, but car quality remains superb).
'21 Dark Blue/Black Audi A7 PHEV (mine); '22 White/Beige BMW X3 (hers); '20 Estoril Blue/Oyster BMW M240xi 'Vert (Ours, read: hers in 'vert weather; mine during Nor'easters...)
I guess it's a bell shaped curve with some bad and some good; really sorry to hear you have had that many severe problems as overall it's a sharp pretty highly rated car.
Huh? Who else is having that problem? I don't recall anybody having the problem you describe. :confuse:
I have had light shows e.g. radio displasy on/off;dash display on/off;overhead map lights flicker. this past summer.
At the the same time period this past summer I have had starting problems. When I attempt to start car,there is complete silence, no electrical connection. I found out by trial and error that if I turn on the headlights, or the radio the electrical connection is made and the car starts immediately.
The starting problem is getting better in the cooler aurumn weather.(Any connection)?
Any thoughts on this ?? or similar past experiences?? solutions to the problem.???
Wow, they got me in w/o an appt, had it done in 90 mins! Nothing showed on their scopes and it was running fine of course, so they put a TSB firmware upgrade into the main car computer TSB 18-042-03 for cold weather hard start and rough idle. I put in a full tank of top grade (BP/Amoco) gas and have driven it now for a day ... all seems fine, so will let the wife have "her" car back. The only thing that seems odd is we drove it all last winter with no problems, why a problem now when only 40 deg out, hmmm?
Anyway, I'm not sure I really will hold this against the car: it was minor, maybe only a fluke, no real pains and excellent turn around at Adamson Motors (ah, tomorrow I head there for my first new tires on my 01 Gr Cherokee at 70,000 miles ... Michelin LTX M/S, this one WILL cost some bucks but I hope they are as good as all I read about them ... cannot complain getting that many miles on OEM GY Wranglers either, but I need more than 4/32s tread in Minnesota winter).
and it returned after I set heat to 90 then back down but that did
not work this time. how do I do a diagnostics test or reset on the ATC
temp gauge is fine any ideas to what problem could be.
thanks blorb
could it be thermostat? any way I can do a self diagnostics on atc?
I had been toying with the idea of replacing the car but have given up on that since it has been a good auto.
Is there a horn relay? for this or is it a short to the horn itsself? Anyone else experienced this? I thought the problem was contact in the steering wheel, but it's now not doing it when arming the door locks with the remote. I haven't set it to turn off the car horn chirp when arming the system either.
If anyone could guide me, I'd appreciate it.
Thanks!
because I went to start it about two hours later it started went to put it in drive and it slide through every gear. TRANSMISSION. Oh, yea I have replace 3 of the center pieces on the wheel at $20 each.
BTW, its sway bar, not swag bar. And sway bars are front and rear, not right or left. Maybe he said the right end-link on the sway bar?
No offense intended at all, but you might want to have your husband to all the dealings with your service department because it doesn't seem like you're knowledgeable at all when it comes to cars. That puts you at a major disadvantage when dealing with a shady service department. Let's just hope your husband knows something about cars. There's lots of men out there that don't know squat about the workings of an automobile. :confuse: It's sad really. :sick: